November 21, 2013

Hydrogen Boy

TOKYO: A little boy urinating might not easily conjure up images of a cleaner world, but Honda had other ideas on Thursday as it tries to promote its green-car technology.

The Japanese firm erected a two-metre (6.6 foot) replica of famous Brussels landmark Manneken Pis -- the bronze statue of a boy peeing into a fountain -- for its display at the Tokyo Motor Show.

The not-so-little plastic "Piss Boy", as the famous statue is known in Japan, was meant to show how the company's fuel-cell technology works, and along with the hydrogen tank strapped to his back it has been appropriately named "Hydrogen Boy".

"When hydrogen and oxygen go into a fuel cell, they react chemically and generate power," the boy's recorded voice tells passersby in Japanese, his eyes flashing as he urinates into a pool below.